Behavioural Ecology BIOL 4701
last update: December 22, 2025
course outline here
do contact me if you have any comments, questions or want to chat about anything
Seminar presentation instructions (here)
Laboratory schedule and suggested papers for review presentations (will be regularly updated)
January 13 Behavioural ecology and sociobiology – are its assumptions valid?
S.J. Gould and R. Lewontin. 1979. The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationisty program. Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) 205: 581-598. here
West, S.A., Dall, S.R.X., Cunningham, J.P. et al. 2025. Behavioural ecology in the twenty-first century. Nature Ecology and Evolution 9: 2193–2205. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02912-3
O’Hanlon, J.C., Kawsar Khan, M., S.C.et al. 2025. Behavior across time and space – how large scale “trait-based” approaches can shape behavioral ecology. Behavioral Ecology, 36(4) araf073, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/araf073
Gonzalez, M.Z., Rice, M.A. 2024. Behavioural sciences need behavioural ecology. Nature Human Behaviour 8: 1240–1242 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01906-8
January 20 Genetics of behaviour – human examples: pair bonding and social attitudes
Chen, N, Liu, YJ, Fan, YL et al. (2022). A single gene integrates sex and hormone regulators into sexual attractiveness. Nature Ecology and Evolution 6:1180–1190. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01808-w
MT Pot, ME Visser, B Helm, JAC von Rönn and HP van der Jeugd. (2024). Revisiting Perdeck's massive avian migration experiments debunks alternative social interpretations. Biology Letters 20:7. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0217
Mills MC, Tropf FC, Brazel DM et al. (2021). Identification of 371 genetic variants for age at first sex and birth linked to externalizing behaviour. Nature Human Behaviour 5:1717–1730. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01135-3
Saunders GRB, Wang X, Chen F et al. (2022). Genetic diversity fuels gene discovery for tobacco and alcohol use. Nature 612:720–724. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05477-4
Long T , Yuan M, Yuan H, Lu W. (2021). Heritability of animal individuality in fish: distribution, behavior, metabolism and stress response. Aquaculture 536:736415.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.736415
Justen H et al. (2022). The genetics of bird migration. Current Biology 32(20): R1144 - R1149 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.008
LS Le Clercq, G Bazzi, JG Cecere, L Gianfranceschi, JP Grobler, A Kotzé, D Rubolini, M Liedvogel, DL Dalton. Time trees and clock genes: a systematic review and comparative analysis of contemporary avian migration genetics. Biological Reviews 98:(4)1051-1080 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12943
H Connahs, EJ Tan, YT Ter, E Dion, Y Matsuoka, A Bear and A Monteiro. (2022). The yellow gene regulates behavioural plasticity by repressing male courtship in Bicyclus anynana butterflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 289:1972
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2665
McCulloch, G. A., & Waters, J. M. (2023). Rapid adaptation in a fast-changing world: Emerging insights from insect genomics. Global Change Biology 29:943–954. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16512
January 27 Adaptive control of circadian rhythms
Feng and Bass. 2016. Singing fish rely on circadian rhythm and melatonin for the timing of nocturnal courtship vocalization. Current Biology 26:2681–2689.
Sbragaglia V, López-Olmeda JF, Frigato E, Bertolucci C, Arlinghaus R. (2021). Size-selective mortality induces evolutionary changes in group risk-taking behaviour and the circadian system in a fish. Journal of Animal Ecology 90:387–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13372
BM Tomotani, F Timpen and K Spoelstra. (2023). Ingrained city rhythms: flexible activity timing but more persistent circadian pace in urban birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.2605
M Martorell-Barceló, E Aspillaga, M Barcelo-Serra, R Arlinghaus, J Alós. (2024). Circadian-related behavioural types in free-living marine fish revealed by high-throughput telemetry. Animal Behaviour 210:255-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.12.019
N Merčnik, MP Povše, D Škorjanc, J Skok. (2023). Chronobiology of free-ranging domestic cats: circadian, lunar and seasonal activity rhythms in a wildlife corridor. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269:106094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2023.106094
Lazzeri, L., Fazzi, P., Lucchesi, M. et al. (2022). The rhythm of the night: patterns of activity of the European wildcat in the Italian peninsula. Mammalian Biology 102:1769–1782.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00276-w
Foster et al. 2017. Smaller and bolder prey snails have higher survival in staged encounters with the sea star Pisaster giganteus. Current Zoology 63(6): 633-638. https://www.mun.ca/serg/WC-Foster 2017.pdf
February 3 Examples of optimality theory testing studies
Langerhans et al. 2021. Consuming costly prey: optimal foraging and the role of compensatory growth. Front. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.603387
G Piel, DW Tallamy, DL Narango. (2021). Lepidoptera host records accurately predict tree use by foraging birds. Northeastern Naturalist 28(4):527-540. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.028.0410
Sarkar R, B Anirban, D Debsruti, B Rounak, C Poushali, N Abhijit, R Sreelekshmi, R Aritra, S Rituparna, MA Baran, B Anindita. (2023). Eating smart: Free-ranging dogs follow an optimal foraging strategy while scavenging in groups. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1099543 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1099543
Sliger R, Grossman GD. (2021). A test of a generalized, optimal habitat selection model for drift-feeding fishes: brook charr. Journal of Zoology 315:313-318.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12926
van Deurs M, Persson A, Nilsson PA, Jørgensen C. (2022). Fish resist temptation from junk food: state-dependent diet choice in reproductive Atlantic cod Gadus morhua facing seasonal fluxes of lipid-rich prey. Oikos https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08739
WT Gough, DE Cade, MF Czapanskiy, JPotvin, F E Fish, SR Kahane-Rapport, MS Savoca, KC Bierlich, DW Johnston, AS Friedlaender, A Szabo, L Bejder, JA Goldbogen. (2022). Fast and Furious: energetic trade-offs and scaling of high-speed foraging in rorqual whales. Integrative Organismal Biology 4:1. https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obac038
Lanszki J, Bende Z, Nagyapáti N, Lanszki Z, Pongrácz P. (2023). Optimal prey for red fox cubs - An example of dual optimizing foraging strategy in foxes from a dynamic wetland habitat. Ecology and Evolution 13 e10033.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10033
February 10 Communication
JB Theberge, MT Theberge. (2022). Triggers and consequences of wolf (Canis lupus) howling in Yellowstone National Park and connection to communication theory. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 100(12): 799-809. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2022-0043
L de Framond, H Brumm, WI Thompson, SM Drabing, CD Francis. (2022). The broken-wing display across birds and the conditions for its evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences289:1971. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0058
L Yu, X Xu, Z Zhang, CJ Painting, X Yang, D Li. (2022). Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider. Current Zoology 68(3):325–334. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoab060
D Alves, M Vieira, M Clara, P Amorim, PJ Fonseca. (2021). Boat noise interferes with Lusitanian toadfish acoustic communication. Journal of Experimental Biology 224(11): jeb234849. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.234849
Pine M, Wilson L, Jeffs AG, McWhinnie L, Scuderi A, Radford CA. (2021). A Gulf in lockdown: how an enforced ban on recreational vessels increased dolphin and fish communication ranges. Global Change Biology 27:4839-4848. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15798
D Sofya , H Eckhard. (2022). Coordinated singing in Coppery Titi Monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus): resource or mate defense? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.898509 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.898509
AJ Barker et al. (2021). Cultural transmission of vocal dialect in the naked mole-rat. Science 371:503-507. DOI:10.1126/science.abc6588
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.abc6588
M Lastra, NR Negrín, AC Fuentes et al. (2024). Mantled howler monkey males assess their rivals through formant spacing of long-distance calls. Primates 65:183–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-024-01120-0
A Wheeldon, P Szymański, A Surmacki, TS Osiejuk. (2021). Song type and song type matching are important for joint territorial defense in a duetting songbird, Behavioral Ecology 32(5):883–894. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab030
B Landsborough, DR Wilson, DJ Mennill. 2020. Variation in chick-a-dee call sequences, not in the fine structure of chick-a-dee calls, influences mobbing behaviour in mixed-species flocks. Behavioral Ecology 31(1) 54–62. chick-a-dee.pdf
Atton N, Galef BJ, Hoppitt W, Webster MM, Laland KN. 2014 Familiarity affects social network structure and discovery of prey patch locations in foraging stickleback shoals. Proc. R. Soc. B 281: 20140579.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2014.0579
February 17 Sexual selection, mate choice and mating systems I
Kneil et al. 2015. Novel mate preference through mate-choice copying in zebra finches: sexes differ. Behavioural Ecology 26(2): 647-655.
NL Zweerus, M van Wijk, C Schal, AT Groot. (2021). Experimental evidence for female mate choice in a noctuid moth. Animal Behaviour 179:1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.022https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347221002025
Wang D, Forstmeier W, Farine DR et al. (2022). Machine learning reveals cryptic dialects that explain mate choice in a songbird. Nature Communications 13:1630. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28881-w
EM Song, X Wang et al. (2021). Mate choice for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) complementarity in the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia). Avian Research 12:27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-021-00261-w
Kavaliers M, Bishnoi IR, Ossenkopp KP et al. (2022). Odor-based mate choice copying in deer mice is not affected by familiarity or kinship. Animal Cognition 25:241–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-021-01550-z
Caves EM, Kelley LA. (2023). Proportional processing of a visual mate choice signal in the green swordtail, Xiphophorus hellerii. Ecology Letters 26:575-585. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14179
Sinclair CS, Lisa SF, Pischedda A. (2021). Does sexual experience affect the strength of male mate choice for high-quality females in Drosophila melanogaster? Ecology and Evolution 11:16981–16992. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8334
February 24 no lab – winter semester break
March 3 Sexual selection, mate choice and mating systems II
P Yu, F Miao, Z Kong, R Cao, P Chen. (2023). Genetic evidence for variability in the social mating system of the Midday Gerbil (Meriones meridianus). Journal of Mammalogy, 104(6):1434–1442. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyad080
Heinsohn R, Appleby D, Wilson D, Legge S. (2024). Large, overlapping home ranges reveal male mating strategies in polygynandrous Eclectus parrots. Emu - Austral Ornithology 124(3–4):261–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2024.2368006
Cheng YC, Hsu Y, Chen YH. (2024). Costs and benefits of polyandrous mating to the female emerald treefrog (Zhangixalus prasinatus), a lek-chorusing anuran. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 78:111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-024-03528-6
J Krietsch, M Valcu, M Cragnolini, W Forstmeier, B Kempenaers. (2024). Mutual mate guarding with limited sexual conflict in a sex-role-reversed shorebird. Behavioral Ecology35(1):arad084. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arad084
LRW McLean, TW Horton, BC Robertson, F Robertson, AL Greer, XJ Nelson. (2023). Reproductive roles as likely drivers of sexual dimorphism in New Zealand’s endangered mountain parrot, the Kea. Ornithology 140:4.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad038
Duchateau S, Chéliz G, Gil JA, López-López P. (2022). Adult coloration of the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) in the Pyrenees: relation to sex, mating system and productivity. Ibis 164:505-518. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13032
A McQueen, K Delhey, B Szecsenyi, OL Crino, MJ Roast, A Peters. (2021). Physiological costs and age constraints of a sexual ornament: an experimental study in a wild bird. Behavioral Ecology 32(2):327–338. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/araa143
March 10
Parental care, or not
FD Rogers, CJ Pena, R Mallarino. (2023). African Striped Mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) as a neurobehavioural model for male parental care. Hormones and Behaviour 152:105364
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105364 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018506X23000624
Heyer E, Cimadom A, Wappl C, Tebbich S. (2021). Parental care in the Small Tree Finch Camarhynchus parvulus in relation to parasitism and environmental factors. Ibis 163:137-149. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12845
M Martin, T Gridley, A Immerz, SH Elwen, I Charrier. (2024). Use of acoustic signals in Cape fur seal mother–pup reunions: individual signature, signal propagation and pup home range. Journal of Experimental Biology 227(13):jeb246917. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246917
H Cope, ER Ivimey-Cook, J Moorad. (2022). Triparental ageing in a laboratory population of an insect with maternal care. Behavioral Ecology 33(6):1123–1132.
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac078
Reid et al. (2022). Breeding status shapes territoriality and vocalization patterns in Spotted Owls. Journal of Avian Biology 2022(2): e02952
https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jav.02952
Moretti et al. (2015). Infuence of relationships on neophobia and exploration in wolves and dogs. Animal Behaviour 107:159-173.https://www.mun.ca/serg/neophobia-and-exploration-wolves&dogs.pdf
March 17 Human Behaviour I
TS Roth, I Samara, ME Kret. (2021). Multimodal mate choice: Exploring the effects of sight, sound, and scent on partner choice in a speed-date paradigm. Evolution and Human Behavior 42(5): 461-468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.04.004
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513821000313
Kleppesto TH, Czajkowski NO, SheehySkeffington J, Vassend O, Roysamb E, Eftedal NH, Kunst JR, Ystrom E, Thomsen L. (2024). The genetic underpinnings of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation explain political attitudes beyond Big Five personality. Journal of Personality 92:1744–1758.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12921
Abdellaoui A, Verweij KJH. (2021). Dissecting polygenic signals from genome-wide association studies on human behaviour. Nature Human Behaviour 5:686–694
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01110-y
D Farrelly, MS Bhogal. (2021). The value of pro-environmental behaviour in mate choice. Personality and Individual Differences 179:110964.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110964
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886921003391
L Glowacki. (2024). The controversial origins of war and peace: apes, foragers, and human evolution. Evolution and Human Behavior 45(6):106618.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.106618
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513824000941
The evolution of music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_musicology ilj
March 24 Human Behaviour II
TM Waring, ZT Wood, E Szathmáry. (2023). Characteristic processes of human evolution caused the Anthropocene and may obstruct its global solutions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 379:1893.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0259
Savolainen V, Bailey NW, Diamond L et al. (2024). A broader cultural view is necessary to study the evolution of sexual orientation. Nature Ecology and Evolution 8:181–183. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02273-9
Anikin A. (2024). Why do people make noises in bed? Evolution and Human Behavior 45(2):183-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.02.002
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513824000217
J Fořt, JV Valentova, K Hudáčová, B Kunc, J Havlíček. (2025). An evolutionary perspective on homosexuality: Testing the sexually antagonistic genes hypothesis through familial fertility analysis. Evolution and Human Behavior 46(1):106649
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.106649
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513824001259
Larva MA, Rantala M.J. (2024). An evolutionary psychological approach toward BDSM interest and behavior. Archives of Sexual Behaviour 53:2253–2267.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02881-x
March 31
To be scheduled
"What if I'm wrong?" (Richard Dawkins - YouTube)
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Ian L. Jones (iljones 'at' mun.ca)